Hi

[Debbieo]

Hi all
I'm Debbie and new to the bird world. About a year ago I rescued a breeding pair of Black Masked Lovebirds. My intention was to find a good home for them but found that I really enjoyed them. Now my son is afraid I'll become "the crazy bird lady". I've done alot of research through books & internet but the answers to questions are not always there so I'm hoping the members in this forum will be able to guide me and answer questions & concerns as they arise. We are on the 3rd clutch and a couple problems I've had in the past is only 2 out 5-6 eggs hatch. Is there anything I can do about this? I am also concerned about mama and the effect this may have on her. My next concern is mama squished one of the babies from the last clutch and now one out of this clutch. It breaks my heart and would like to know if there is anything I can do to avoid this?
Please help

 

[itzjbean]

Hello and welcome!! You'll find many of us here are 'crazy bird ladies' lol! (and some men!)

That's great you rescued the pair of lovebirds. There are many members here with lots of experience with lovebirds and breeding them, so hopefully they will see this thread and add their own comments. I've only bred cockatiels but may be able to shed a little light here.

You say you acquired them a year ago and they have now had 3 clutches. This is way too much for these birds, as they should responsibly only be allowed to have one clutch a year, a max of two. It really is not healthy for birds to keep having babies. I highly suggest taking their nest box out and giving them a break!!! Any eggs laid from now on should be discarded and nest box should be removed from their cage entirely.

That being said, with the parents busy caring for the chicks, the feamle producing all those eggs and also feeding the chicks, it's important to increase the food they are getting and also supplement with more to replenish the calcium the female is losing to laying eggs.

As far as the low number of eggs being hatched, it could be a number of things. They may not be getting enough warmth if the parents aren't sitting on them. Some breeder birds just have a low hatch rate, which is why they have so many eggs. My tiels laid 7 on my last clutch and 4 ended up making it. It's just how it goes sometimes.

I'm sorry to hear of the mother crushing the young chicks, poor babies. A way to avoid this altogether would be to pull the eggs and incubate them yourself until they hatch, and keep the chicks in a brooder. Of course you would have to know how to hand-feed with formula to do this, as the chicks would require around-the-clock feedings. Do you have any experience with handfeeding at all? Perhaps there may be breeders in your area or a bird-specific store that could show you how to do this.

Handfeeding is an excellent skill to have as a breeder, and breeding birds is often discouraged if the one allowing the birds to breed does not know how to handfeed. It is such a crutial skill ot have when breeding. What would you do if the parents began mutilating/rejecting the babies? This is why handfeeding is so important. When any kind of trouble arises you can quickly pull the baby and wean it out yourself.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums Debbie, thanks for joining!!

Excellent advice from "itzjbean" as not all birds are wonderful or skilled parents. Consistent breeding requires superb nutritional support. From another angle, do you wish to have them continue to breed in quick succession?

 

[Debbieo]

Thanks Jackie & Scott,
I agree as far as the amount of clutches. After the first one I removed their nesting box. They had a coconut hide-a-way in their cage and laid eggs there as well as hatched. Being new to this I was afraid to handle the babies for fear they would be rejected and I had no experience hand feeding. I live in a rural area in ND. There is no avian vet in the area but I was able to find someone to teach me how to hand feed if there was an emergency. I did eventually put the nesting box in and move the babies into it for fear they would've fallen out of the coconut. Shortly there after the parents quit feeding the babies so I did have to start hand feeding and have been hand feeding the other clutches starting out about three weeks. Once again I removed the nesting box as well as the coconut shell but now they laid their eggs on the bottom of the cage. Once again I put the nest box back in the cage and moved the eggs in there as well. I've ordered fake eggs and thought I would try that next. I would hate to split them up. Does anyone have experience with this? That pretty much brings this up to now. As far as nutrition I've been providing Nestling food in addition to a mix Of a Kaytee product as well as Volkmen product both for lovebirds. ( these were the products left behind by the previous owners ). I also provide cuttlebone and millet. I've tried a variety of fresh vegetables grains and fruits and they want no part of it. I welcome any/all advise.

 

[itzjbean]

That is good you learned to hand-feed, it is most definitely what saved the babies since the parents weren't feeding them. What is the situation now? Do they have eggs, chicks? Or are you still handfeeding?

For the foreseeable future, to give the parents a break, remove the nest box AND coconut and do not put them back into their cage under any circumstance, even if they begin laying more eggs on the bottom again. You simply need to just throw them away. Eventually they will stop laying.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome! This is a wonderful, wonderful community.
Black-masked lovebirds are a favorite of mine. Such beautiful, dramatic faces and eyes.
Glad you found us!

 

[Debbieo]

Thanks Jackie. As of right now 3 eggs have hatched, 1 baby got squished and 2 more eggs to go. Thanks again for all your advice. Sure glad I found this site. I've been so worried I was going to do everything wrong and I'm finally getting a little confidence and this will definitely help. One more thing. I kept one of my first babies. His name is Pickles. Eventually I would like to find him a mate. Can anyone recommend a resource?